Find your quiet place by Terry Sturtevant

Find your quiet place

by 

Terry Sturtevant

Isaiah, Chapter 26

 2 Open the gates, that the righteous nation may enter:
the one which keeps faith.
  3 You will keep whoever’s mind is steadfast in perfect peace,
because he trusts in you.
  4 Trust in Yahweh forever;
for in Yah, Yahweh, is an everlasting Rock.

The world is a busy and often noisy place. Jet planes, loud traffic, noisy restaurants and watching the local news all can contribute to an overworked mind.

I have a quiet place. I'm not going to share with you it's secret location because when I am there it is peaceful. Many would guess it is our cottage on the lake. It is wonderful and soothing for the soul. But it is only available to us  for about five months and then only on weekends. It is good for body, mind and soul. It however, is not my quiet place.

In my quiet place I have room to move about, exercise if I want and work. I can play music if I like. Any type of music I like. I also have a computer and a television. Yet I don't use them a lot when its my quiet time. It's a place to read, relax, listen and think.

I like to pray there as well. I think it's the quiet atmosphere that fills me with joy. Not that I want to be a hermit. Rather, I wish to feel alone next to God. No interruptions. It works for me.

I know of friends who find that in nature. They hike, fish, cross country ski, go for long long walks and some even run for miles at a time.

You might find your place at night in your bed. It might be alone in a large farm field. Make a space in your attic or a spare room. I know a man who finds comfort in a rocking chair on his front porch. He thinks and prays and never forgets to wave to the drivers as they drive past his home. It really is where ever you find comfort and joy.

My quiet place releases stress and quiets the mind. It lifts the spirit and clarifies my thinking. It's a satisfying feeling of feeding the soul.

Sing if you like or read the Word of God and pray.

Go there as often as you need solace.

I encourage you to visit a quiet place often.

Terry Sturtevant 

Sept. 7 Psalms 46-48

Sept. 7

Psalms 46-48

Psa 46:1 God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.

Psa 46:2 Therefore we won't be afraid, though the earth changes, though the mountains are shaken into the heart of the seas;

Psa 46:3 though its waters roar and are troubled, though the mountains tremble with their swelling. Selah.

Psa 46:4 There is a river, the streams of which make the city of God glad, the holy place of the tents of the Most High.

Psa 46:5 God is in her midst. She shall not be moved. God will help her at dawn.

Psa 46:6 The nations raged. The kingdoms were moved. He lifted his voice, and the earth melted.

Psa 46:7 Yahweh of Armies is with us. The God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah.

Psa 46:8 Come, see Yahweh's works, what desolations he has made in the earth.

Psa 46:9 He makes wars cease to the end of the earth. He breaks the bow, and shatters the spear. He burns the chariots in the fire.

Psa 46:10 "Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations. I will be exalted in the earth."

Psa 46:11 Yahweh of Armies is with us. The God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah.

Psa 47:1 Oh clap your hands, all you nations. Shout to God with the voice of triumph!

Psa 47:2 For Yahweh Most High is awesome. He is a great King over all the earth.

Psa 47:3 He subdues nations under us, and peoples under our feet.

Psa 47:4 He chooses our inheritance for us, the glory of Jacob whom he loved. Selah.

Psa 47:5 God has gone up with a shout, Yahweh with the sound of a trumpet.

Psa 47:6 Sing praise to God, sing praises. Sing praises to our King, sing praises.

Psa 47:7 For God is the King of all the earth. Sing praises with understanding.

Psa 47:8 God reigns over the nations. God sits on his holy throne.

Psa 47:9 The princes of the peoples are gathered together, the people of the God of Abraham. For the shields of the earth belong to God. He is greatly exalted!

Psa 48:1 Great is Yahweh, and greatly to be praised, in the city of our God, in his holy mountain.

Psa 48:2 Beautiful in elevation, the joy of the whole earth, is Mount Zion, on the north sides, the city of the great King.

Psa 48:3 God has shown himself in her citadels as a refuge.

Psa 48:4 For, behold, the kings assembled themselves, they passed by together.

Psa 48:5 They saw it, then they were amazed. They were dismayed. They hurried away.

Psa 48:6 Trembling took hold of them there, pain, as of a woman in travail.

Psa 48:7 With the east wind, you break the ships of Tarshish.

Psa 48:8 As we have heard, so we have seen, in the city of Yahweh of Armies, in the city of our God. God will establish it forever. Selah.

Psa 48:9 We have thought about your loving kindness, God, in the midst of your temple.

Psa 48:10 As is your name, God, so is your praise to the ends of the earth. Your right hand is full of righteousness.

Psa 48:11 Let Mount Zion be glad! Let the daughters of Judah rejoice, Because of your judgments.

Psa 48:12 Walk about Zion, and go around her. Number its towers.

Psa 48:13 Mark well her bulwarks. Consider her palaces, that you may tell it to the next generation.

Psa 48:14 For this God is our God forever and ever. He will be our guide even to death.

Sept. 7 1 Corinthians 3

Sept. 7

1 Corinthians 3

1Co 3:1 Brothers, I couldn't speak to you as to spiritual, but as to fleshly, as to babies in Christ.

1Co 3:2 I fed you with milk, not with meat; for you weren't yet ready. Indeed, not even now are you ready,

1Co 3:3 for you are still fleshly. For insofar as there is jealousy, strife, and factions among you, aren't you fleshly, and don't you walk in the ways of men?

1Co 3:4 For when one says, "I follow Paul," and another, "I follow Apollos," aren't you fleshly?

1Co 3:5 Who then is Apollos, and who is Paul, but servants through whom you believed; and each as the Lord gave to him?

1Co 3:6 I planted. Apollos watered. But God gave the increase.

1Co 3:7 So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase.

1Co 3:8 Now he who plants and he who waters are the same, but each will receive his own reward according to his own labor.

1Co 3:9 For we are God's fellow workers. You are God's farming, God's building.

1Co 3:10 According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I laid a foundation, and another builds on it. But let each man be careful how he builds on it.

1Co 3:11 For no one can lay any other foundation than that which has been laid, which is Jesus Christ.

1Co 3:12 But if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay, or stubble;

1Co 3:13 each man's work will be revealed. For the Day will declare it, because it is revealed in fire; and the fire itself will test what sort of work each man's work is.

1Co 3:14 If any man's work remains which he built on it, he will receive a reward.

1Co 3:15 If any man's work is burned, he will suffer loss, but he himself will be saved, but as through fire.

1Co 3:16 Don't you know that you are a temple of God, and that God's Spirit lives in you?

1Co 3:17 If anyone destroys the temple of God, God will destroy him; for God's temple is holy, which you are.

1Co 3:18 Let no one deceive himself. If anyone thinks that he is wise among you in this world, let him become a fool, that he may become wise.

1Co 3:19 For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, "He has taken the wise in their craftiness."

1Co 3:20 And again, "The Lord knows the reasoning of the wise, that it is worthless."

1Co 3:21 Therefore let no one boast in men. For all things are yours,

1Co 3:22 whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come. All are yours,

1Co 3:23 and you are Christ's, and Christ is God's.

"THE FIRST EPISTLE TO TIMOTHY" Chapter Two by Mark Copeland

                     "THE FIRST EPISTLE TO TIMOTHY"

                              Chapter Two

OBJECTIVES IN STUDYING THIS CHAPTER

1) To appreciate the importance and place of prayer, especially in the
   lives of men

2) To notice God's desire for the salvation of all men, therefore 
   offering Christ as a ransom for all, not just a select few

3) To understand the proper adornment of women, and their place in the
   public teaching of the church

SUMMARY

Having reminded Timothy of his charge to remain in Ephesus and "wage
the good warfare", Paul now begins instructing Timothy in matters that
involve the church.  He starts with a call to prayer, defining for whom
and why we should pray.  His desire is that men pray in every place,
lifting up holy hands without wrath and doubting (1-8).

Just as men are to pray everywhere, so women are to adorn themselves
properly.  This involves modest apparel worn with propriety and 
moderation, but it also includes good works, as is proper for women 
professing godliness.  Also proper is women learning in silence 
(translated peaceable in verse 2) with all submission.  Therefore a 
woman is not permitted to teach or have authority over a man.  Basing 
this restriction on the relationship of Adam, Eve, and the fall, Paul 
reminds them they can be saved in their natural role of childbearing if
they continue in faith, love, and holiness, with self-control (9-15).

OUTLINE

I. THE PRACTICE OF PRAYER (1-8)

   A. THE SCOPE OF PRAYER (1-7)
      1. Supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks
         are to be made for all (1)
         a. For kings and all who are in authority (2a)
         b. That we may lead quiet and peaceable lives in all godliness
            and reverence (2b)
      2. This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior (3)
         a. Who desires all men to be saved and know the truth (4)
         b. For there is one Mediator between God and men (5a)
            1) The Man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself a ransom for all
               (5b-6a)
            2) To be testified in due time, for which Paul was 
               appointed a preacher and an apostle (6b-7a)
               a) Paul speaks the truth in Christ and is not lying (7b)
               b) A teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth (7c)

   B. A CALL TO PRAYER (8)
      1. For men to pray everywhere (8a)
      2. Lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting (8b)

II. INSTRUCTIONS FOR WOMEN (9-15)

   A. THEIR ADORNMENT (9-10)
      1. With modest apparel (9a)
         a. With propriety and moderation (9b)
         b. Not with braided hair, gold, pearls, or costly clothing
            (9c)
      2. With good works, which is proper for women professing 
         godliness (10)

   B. THEIR SUBMISSION (11-15)
      1. To learn in silence with all submission (11)
      2. Not permitted to teach or have authority over a man, but to be
         in silence (12)
         a. For Adam was formed first, then Eve (13)
         b. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived
            fell into transgression (14)
      3. A woman will be saved in childbearing if they continue in...
         a. Faith
         b. Love
         c. Holiness
         -- With self-control (15)

REVIEW QUESTIONS FOR THE CHAPTER

1) What are the main points of this chapter?
   - The practice of prayer (1-8)
   - Instructions for women (9-15)

2) What four things does Paul exhort be made for all men? (1)
   - Supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks

3) Who else are we to pray for?  Why? (2)
   - Kings and all who are in authority
   - That we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and
     reverence

4) What does God desire for all men? (4)
   - That they be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth

5) Who is the one mediator between God and men? (5)
   - The Man Christ Jesus

6) For whom did Jesus give Himself as a ransom? (6)
   - For all

7) What did Paul desire that men do? (8)
   - Pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands without wrath and doubting

8) How are women to adorn themselves? (9-10)
   - In modest apparel, with propriety and moderation
   - Not with braided hair, gold, pearls, or costly clothing
   - With good works, as is proper for women professing godliness

9) How were the women to learn? (11)
   - In silence (peaceable, cf. 2:3), with all submission

10) What did Paul not permit a woman to do? (12)
   - To teach or have authority over a man

11) What two reasons does Paul give for these limitations on women?
    (13-14)
   - Adam was formed first, then Eve
   - Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived fell into
     transgression

12) What are the women encouraged to continue in? (15)
   - Faith, love, holiness, with self-control